Used Napkins

As a Youtube content creator, such that it is, I've had the occasion recently to ponder the difference between a stalker and a fan.  I've had people show interest in me personally because of my videos, and rather than being wary, I've welcomed it.  My video channel is to express myself, the real me, so what you see in the videos is basically me, after I've edited out the nose-picking and butt-scratching parts.

A stalker can be a fan, but a fan isn't necessarily a stalker. There is a line between an overtly interested fan and an annoying creep, though it probably isn't exactly the same among content creators.  A fan may thoroughly enjoy the topic of the channel and feel connected to the channel creator because the two share the same passions.  Internet etiquette being what it is, I'm sure a fan oversteps propriety now and again in his or her enthusiasm to connect with the person who makes the videos about things the fan really likes.  A fan wants to know about the content maker, wants to see if there are other subjects of interest between them, wants to make a deeper connection than the typical viewer.  Youtube is not really comparable to Hollywood, but if you think of a fan who is interested in a movie actor, the fan spends extra time reading about the actor and learning all sorts of things that help the fan feel connected to the actor.

Most people would consider a stalker to be someone who has crossed a line of some sort.  Again, if you look at the Hollywood analogy, a stalker does things like follow the actor around town, intrude upon the actor's private moments with friends, send a continual stream of mail, and even enter the actor's private property.  A stalker may not be dangerous, but his or her behavior disrupts the actor's life much more than a normal fan would.  Do Youtube content creators have stalkers?  Yes, they do, and they are similar to what Hollywood actors deal with. They intrude upon the personal lives of Youtube personalities and their attention-seeking amounts to harassment. 

What is the line then between the two levels of fandom?  First, it's a matter of intent.  If a content creator feels a fan is crossing the line, he or she should say something to get an idea whether the fan has more on the mind than simply trying to relate with the maker of the videos more deeply.  I'm flattered when people who watch my videos send me messages and want to know things about me.  Not everyone feels this way, so those people may need to express where their particular fan line is and understand that exuberance isn't necessarily stalking.  Give your fans a break and say what you're comfortable with and what you're not.

I'm a fan myself of several Youtube content creators, but I don't think I've ever crossed the line into stalkerhood despite my special interest in certain video producers who intrigue me with their skill, knowledge, and personalities.   So give your viewers a break, give your fans a break, because a fan may just be a socially clumsy individual who likes the stuff you do so much that he or she wants to relate on a deeper level.   A stalker wants to steal your used napkins; a fan just wants you to acknowledge their admiration.

That is all.  Return to work everyone!

Turn Off the Television

This year I'm not visiting the United States, but for the last several years I have spent my summers in America. It has given me the opportunity to put real life next to the news reporting that comes off the Internet. I have seen year after year how my home country is declining in every way possible.

Since the Reagan Administration, the quality of life for most families in the United States has dropped considerably. The infrastructure has rusted and crumbled at a constant rate. Megastores and malls have replaced downtown shopping, requiring a motorized vehicle for almost every daily activity. Home foreclosures are running amok; and television, ubiquitous television, that big box in the family room and probably several other rooms in the house that eat up your power bill and captivate you and your loved ones every day for hours on end.

Let's say we have the opportunity for someone to come and watch American culture for a month or so. Afterward, we ask this visitor to give a critique of the culture of the United States, why it has so many problems. I can guarantee you that the visitor's assessment will not mention people in love, gay or not, even once. People in love do not destroy the world. They make it better. They put a smile on our faces. People in love raise loving children and participate positively in their communities. No, love will not be in the visitor's assessment. The critique of American culture's absolute failure will include how television has kept the American people isolated, uninformed, misinformed, fed a mental diet equivalent to pig slop, submitted to a stream of advertisements one after the other whose only purpose is to make people lust for material things, exposed to television programming that runs twenty-four hours a day every single day of the year, tickled to giggle at insults and dirty jokes, prodded to howl like animals at every young body paraded in front of the camera, witness to thousands of horrific death scenes delivered in some of the most bizarre methods Hollywood technicians can create, and the glorification of money, if not excess, the lip-licking greed that drives capitalism.

The next time a respected member of society gets on television to tell you gay people will ultimately destroy America, just think about what medium he is using and turn off your television. Go out and find some gay couples and get to know them. Find out what's what before you run off to fulfill the nightmare prophesies you heard on the idiot box. Television is not your friend.  Even though you will argue, sometimes heatedly, that “there are some good things” on television, you are just grasping at straws. Watch a one-hour documentary on ducklings, and count how many minutes the capitalists inserted their advertisements at strange moments in the program. How can you say you watched an hour long documentary when you in fact watched a 35 minute documentary? The program was produced only as a background for the advertising scheme. If you still watch television, then you are what's wrong with America. You are destroying America, and you're too cowardly and misinformed to admit it. It's just easier to find some people in society that most folks hate and blame them for the ills you are creating. That is the true fruit of watching television: sheer laziness.

Easter Time

It's Easter weekend, or as I was taught in seminary to call it, "Pascal Triduum". Though I'm an atheist today, the observation of Easter is still a ritual touchstone of my year. Winter entices from me a depth of loathing that I cannot fairly articulate, so at the first signs of spring, you will easily notice my impatience with winter's residual chill.  Every walk in the park encourages me to inspect the progress of leaf buds on low-hanging tree limbs.  The earliest blossoms cause rejoicing untold.  The death of winter is over, and I'm glad to be free of it.
This is the cycle of Nature. Life leads to death, but what is dead does not return; it reciprocally nourishes life. Life cannot be without death. You don't need special training to see this.  If you eat food, you experience this truth graphically.  Nature is change culminating in death, and beliefs otherwise are misleading.
The spring festival of Easter is about life, however, that winter has passed and new life is rising out of the coldness of death.  The myth of Jesus serves as a metaphor of Nature's seasonal ritual, and I really don't mind that.  The hymns of resurrection are not, to me, about a God-Man raised from the grave; they are poetic license, imagery that elicits joy at the arrival of spring's new life.
The believers may revel in their hapless naiveté, but I'll gladly dance with them and sing their hymns of life-affirming joy, because the glory of spring is not the misguided and childish notions of religion but rather the childlike pleasures of grass, warm breezes, the scent of magnolias, and the twitter of birds in the trees.
"Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,
bright with a glorious splendor,
for darkness has been vanquished...."





Quote: Exsultet of the Great Vigil of Easter